Charles D. Ravenel

Charles "Pug" Ravenel (February 14, 1938 – March 26, 2017) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party from South Carolina who won the 1974 Democratic Gubernatorial Primary. Ravenel was the favorite to win the gubernatorial general election until the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled his candidacy invalid on the grounds that he did not meet the state's residency requirements. The eventual winner of the 1974 South Carolina gubernatorial would be James B. Edwards, the state's first Republican governor in decades.

Ravenel was born in Charleston, South Carolina. As a child he attended Cathedral Elementary School and Bishop England High School. Ravenel was given the nickname "Pug" after he ran into a telephone pole at Moultrie Playground. He worked as a newspaper courier for the News and Courier which helped him attend the Phillips Exeter Academy. At Phillips Exteter Academy, Ravenel played football as a Quarterback. In 1961, he graduated from Harvard University.

In 1972, Ravenel moved back to South Carolina after working on Wall Street. His 1974 election platform to become governor of South Carolina, the “Program for Excellence in South Carolina," promised hope and change. His campaign was characterized as positive. He won a crowded Democratic gubernatorial primary and looked like a formidable general election candidate. However, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Ravenel failed to meet the five-year residency requirement stated in the Constitution of South Carolina. During the trial, Ravenel's decision to accept resident memberships instead of nonresident memberships at two separate clubs in Connecticut within the last five years was used against him.

Ravenel failed to un-seat Strom Thurmond in the 1978 United States Senate Election in South Carolina. In 1980, Ravenel lost an election to represent South Carolina's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. Ravenel's cousin, Arthur Ravenel Jr., would later become the 1st congressional district's congressman.

After the end of his political career, Pug Ravenel became associated with Charleston Trees, an organization that planted trees in Charleston. Ravenel's focus was the beautification of East Bay Street on the Charleston peninsula.